Reviews with content warning for Classism - The Bruising of Qilwa

This book has a lot of things going for it, but I found myself wanting it to give a little more. I really do think it could have used an extra hundred pages at least.

The concepts are all fantastic: a medical-fantasy story set in a queernormative Persian inspired world, with themes of immigration, xenophobia, conquest and class struggle. It is clear that the author writes from such a informed place as a person with a medical background and both Persian and queer identity. I just wish they would take more time with their exposition and character building.

I feel like I still don't have a very firm grasp on the history/geopolitics of this region because it is all delivered in very quick little spurts throughout the narrative. The characters too, feel... alright, but I don't know that I would really say that I really came to know any of them deeply.

I picked this book up for its asexual representation, and this is definitely an instance of the "it's not a big deal" kind of representation, where main character Firuz has a moment of internal narration noticing their brother acting flirty and sheepish to another character and Firuz ponders the contrast to their own disinterest to romance and sex, and that's all that's made of it. This is perfectly fine and an important form of representation, though I am personally currently hungry for some books of characters exploring their ace identities more at length. For those who are maybe not ace/aro but who prefer books with no romantic themes this will do nicely.

This is a good book, and worth the time, it just needed a bit more to be a great book.

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eni_iilorak's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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trickphoenix's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. All of the plot threads were conceptually very interesting to me, but I found the execution was lacking.

There were way too many plots going on for a novella, and I felt they didn't get enough time individually to develop. The medical mystery itself I found compelling and it kept me going through the rest, but the interpersonal drama was tense and frustrating without feeling particularly cathartic, and there was never quite enough context given to drive home any of the points about imperialism and changing cultural identity as oppressor vs oppressed, which is a shame since the author seemed to be so thoughtful and knowledgeable on those topics! There just wasn't enough pages to really explore them.

The writing itself was also sometimes confusing; I found myself going back to re-read a few lines to see if I missed some context connecting the thoughts, but didn't find any connection between the two lines at all.

I really liked the extremely diverse inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters, and the seamless inclusion of introductory pronouns and neo-pronouns. I also found the magic system very interesting, and I was excited for the setting. But ultimately I think the delivery wasn't quite there yet. I'd definitely be interested in reading more work from this author to see how they grow and improve though.

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lovealwaysadi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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obscurepages's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

UHM WOW WOW WOW. I didn't know exactly what to expect in this book, but this blew me away.

I thought this was going to be a complex and compelling fantasy, and while this book is that, it's also so much more?? This book explored nuanced topics of immigration, being oppressed and being the oppressor, gender fluidity, and family. It's engrossing and heartfelt and just so damn good.

I loved that Persian culture is so present here, and the queernormative world in here is just pleasant to read about.

ALSO the author is such a good writer 😭 How they managed to make the biggest plot twist both so obvious and yet so surprising at the same time is beyond me 😭 I really thought I knew what the plot twist was, but I was actually so wrong and it's so good.

Glad to have read this for Pride Month 🥺

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kefeshe's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A short intense exploration into many ills that plague society today. Initially seems like a too-quick introduction into a fictional empire and magic system, turned into a parable about the storytellers of said empire and responsibilities of patriotism. Fascinating read once you get into it, which really made me think about the stories of the elders, the stories we tell ourselves and the narratives buried by poverty bf misfortune

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theirgracegrace's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A powerful and heart-wrenching debut from Naseem Jamnia. Firuz is trying to raise their family of refugees from a nearby country under military occupation in the free city of Qilwa. However, to make ends meet, they have to hide their blood magic abilities while working in the one free hospital in the city. As they do, they discover a mysterious plot is rising, and only blood magic could be to blame. An incredible story from a queer-normative world that really speaks to the southwest Asian immigrant experience. The twist is one I did not see coming in the slightest, and the ending gave me hope for the characters' broken world.

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pvbobrien's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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